A big game in the race for Europepublished at 14:51 GMT
14:51 GMT
Newcastle v Everton (15:00 GMT)
Ciaran Kelly
BBC Sport reporter at St James’ Park
Image source, Getty Images
There is understandably plenty of chatter on Tyneside about next months’s game against Barcelona after Newcastle United drew the five-time winners in the last 16 of
the Champions League on Friday.
But the focus internally has very quickly had to shift to the visit of Everton and an
important domestic fixture in Newcastle’s season.
Eddie Howe’s team will go into March fighting in three
competitions – a relatively new phenomenon in the club’s recent history – but
they are running out of time to kickstart their league season once and for all.
Twelfth-placed Newcastle have won just one of their last
six top-flight fixtures, and face an Everton side who have travelled well this season.
“We know the magnitude of today’s game,” Newcastle winger Jacob Murphy
writes in his programme notes.
“Because we still have to play a lot of matches against
teams just above us, it’s in our hands to seize the moment and achieve European
football again.”
Everton actually go into this game above Newcastle in the
table, and manager David Moyes stressed his side were not ready to give up on
their ambition to qualify for Europe.
To do so, the Scot acknowledged Everton were going to need
to win “some really big games on the journey”.
St James’ Park feels like the perfect stage to do just that.